Ronald Boire

Ronald Boire
Born	(1961-04-05) April 5, 1961 (age 64) Plattsburgh, New York
Alma mater	Columbia University London Business School
Occupations	Former CEO of Barnes & Noble, Brookstone, and Sears Canada

Ronald "Ron" D. Boire is an American businessman. He has served as an executive for several companies, including Sony Electronics, Best Buy and CEO roles with Barnes & Noble, Brookstone, Sears Canada.

Early life and career

Ron Boire grew up on a farm in upstate New York. ^[1]

Boire got his start in sales at Sony Electronics, where he worked for seventeen years in various roles. ^[2] Boire obtained MBAs from Columbia University and the London Business School in 2003. After graduation, Boire worked at Best Buy until 2006, serving on the Best Buy executive committee and as executive vice president, global general merchandise manager. Boire then joined Toys R Us. While at Toys "R" Us, Boire held positions as president, "R" Us Brands, president, Toys "R" Us, North America, Toys "R" Us .com and Toys "R" Us Canada. ^[3] The team at Toys R Us was credited with executing a transformative turnaround while Boire was president. ^[4] Boire was also an instrumental figure in a testing program that detected lead paint in toys imported from China, helping to preserve trust in toys licensed by brands such as Disney to third party manufacturers. ^[5]

In October 2009, Boire joined Brookstone as president and CEO. ^{[6] [7]} He became president, Sears and Kmart formats and chief merchandising officer for Sears and Kmart in 2012. ^[8]

He was the president and CEO of Sears Canada from October 2014 to August 2015 ^[9] and director at Retail Council of Canada. Boire became CEO of Barnes & Noble in September 2015.

Personal life and interests

Boire married Faith Ferguson, a meeting and events planner based in Warwick, New York in 2010. ^[10] The couple are co-founders of the Ferguson-Noonan Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporation providing educational support to young people. ^[11]

In 2014, the couple purchased the Stagecoach Inn, a historic property dating from 1747 and spent a year lovingly restoring it. ^[12] The Inn was named the best Old-World Style Inn in Hudson Valley Magazine in 2017 ^[13] and received the Goshen Chamber of Commerce award as the 2017 Business of the Year. ^[14] It has also repeatedly won "Diners Choice" recognition from OpenTable ^[15]

References

1. Alter, Alexandra (4 December 2015). "Barnes & Noble Wants to Become More Than Books". The New York Times.
2. "Brookstone Appoints Ron Boire President and CEO". 15 October 2009.
3. "TOYS "R" US NAMES RONALD D. BOIRE PRESIDENT OF U.S. TOY BUSINESS - Press Releases - Toys"R"Us Corporate". Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
4. "Toys 'R' Us stages a comeback - Nov. 26, 2007".
5. Story, Louise (10 September 2007). "Disney to test toys based on its characters". The New York Times.
6. Reuters
7. "Brookstone Appoints Ron Boire President and CEO". 15 October 2009.
8. "Sears names ex-Brookstone CEO merchandising chief | Reuters". reuters.com. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
9. Shaw, Hollie (15 October 2014). "Sears Canada names U.S. merchandising executive Ronald Boire as acting CEO | Financial Post". Financial Post. business.financialpost.com. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
10. "Faith Ferguson, Ronald Boire". The New York Times. 4 September 2010.
11. "FERGUSON NOONAN FOUNDATION · 7 Blanchard Drive, Warwick, NEW YORK 10990".
12. "History of the Stagecoach Inn Venue and Restaurant".
13. "Best of Hudson Valley: Fun & Leisure". 13 September 2017.
14. "Award Winning Hudson Valley Inn".
15. "Stagecoach Inn - Goshen, NY on OpenTable".